Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
- BSB You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
- NKJV You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
- NASB You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
- NLT “Make no treaties with them or their gods.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel must make no covenant with the Canaanite nations or their gods. Spiritual fidelity forbids any binding alliance with idolatry.
Overview
Covenants in the ancient world carried religious obligations, so a treaty with these nations would entangle Israel with their gods. God therefore forbids such alliances to keep His people from compromise. This guards the exclusive bond between Israel and the LORD. The principle that God's people must not be unequally yoked with idolatry continues into the New Testament call to undivided devotion to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Deut 7:2And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
- Exod 34:12Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
- Exod 34:15Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
- Ps 106:35But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
- Deut 7:16And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.
- 2 Cor 6:15And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
- Num 25:1–2And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
- Josh 9:14–23And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.
- 2 Sam 21:1–2Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 23:32 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.